Ars Technica review: The Sims 2

Ars takes the lid off of the world of The Sims 2. Does the sequel to one of …

When originally released a few years ago, The Sims opened up the world of PC gaming to a whole new audience. Different from the typical PC title, the Sims allowed users to create characters and worlds for them to inhabit, and then watch them develop. The widely-anticipated sequel, The Sims 2, is out, and Ars game reviewer Ben Kuchera spent some time immersed in the world of The Sims 2. Is the non-goal-driven nature of the sequel as engaging as the original? One thing for sure: playing The Sims 2 can be an exercise in self-insight.

Instead of being handed an arbitrary goal, you get to learn about yourself through the choices you make through these characters. I was talking to a friend who said he created himself and his wife in the game, and his wife did the same thing on another computer. They both acted out their relationship as they saw it through the game and came up with completely different things. They said it was almost as good as couples therapy, and at the time, I laughed.

After editing Ben's review, I read some of it including the above quote to my psychotherapist wife, who includes marriage counseling in her repertoire. While she's not going to start recommending couples in trouble play The Sims 2 together, she did agree that in contrast to the typical shoot-em-up, the way we play games such as The Sims 2 has the potential shine a lot of light into our values and what's important to us. And, hey... The Sims 2 are lot of fun, too! Read on.